Cecily had told him she intended to leave his house tomorrow. She must lose no time in locating that missing piece of correspondence, she said. If she didn’t find it in one of those trunks tonight, she must search Lady Davenport’s house. As it happened, he had an imminent appointment in town himself. If what the Duke of Montford had written to him was true, he needed to cut short the house party almost as soon as it had begun. Which was excessively bad form. However, he didn’t care if he offended his relations. He must simply trust that Garvey and his sister would understand. Norland walked among the clouds at the moment, having secured an in principle agreement from Grimshaw to fund his next scientific project. Not even veiled threats from Rand could move Cecily’s betrothed downstairs for dinner after the meeting with Grimshaw. Rand decided it didn’t matter. His world had narrowed to one person. The rest of them could go to hell. He had made the cataclysmic discovery today that Lady Cecily Westruther had the power to wound him.
